Blind (Yuri on Ice) AU

New York

A familiar sound came from the intercom, bringing the talking around us to the lowest it had been in hours.

"This is your captain speaking." The woman started as Victor settled in his seat next to me. I could feel a bit of turbulence as the ground shook below us and we tilted slightly, offset to the right. 

"We will be landing shortly, please remain in your seats and put on your seat belts." She spoke clearly and Victor did as she said, having just got up from the bathroom. The woman repeated herself as the passengers settled in their seats to listen a second time.

The talking around us got lower as the nose of the plane began to tilt downward, or at least to the best of my knowledge it had. Victor yawned and stretched his limbs and seconds later I did the same. We'd been flying now almost fifteen hours- I was about ready to just jump out it felt so cramped. I'd gone to the restroom twice just to stretch my legs and I absolutely despised being here especially since it meant walking in such a narrow passageway.

As I stared boredly ahead, I tried not to focus too hard on the daunting sounds of the engines and how fast we appeared to be going down. After a couple seconds, I felt Victor's arm on mine and leaned in closer to the slight touch he offered, hoping I didn't seem so desperate.

"You hungry?" He asked casually, handing me a biscuit offered by the flight attendants earlier that I was too nervous to eat and Victor was too groggy and cranky from getting up so early in the morning. I took from his hand, already unwrapped and muttered a quiet 'thank you' trying to ignore the weird feeling in my stomach the plane gave me once again. My head felt light and dreary and my ears began to ache from the pressure of going down so dramatically.

The remaining of the conscious passengers settled uncomfortably in their seats as well and I heard the familiar sound of children crying again. Victor sighed next to me in annoyance and I hoped it hadn't been at any fault to me. Warily, I brought the biscuit to my face and cautiously began to eat. It was a bit of an understatement to say that I was self-conscious about eating in any public place, but because Victor had offered it to me, I was at least going to try to get over myself. I found that with Victor I tended to open myself up a little more and I truly hoped he was getting something out of this, too. Although I couldn't quite imagine what I could possibly give him that he couldn't have.

I gulped down the last of the food and wiped my mouth with my sleeve, not minding the napkins any of the flight attendants had handed out along with the rest of our amenities. As the plane jolted and twisted once again, I heard Victor's head crash into his seat and seconds before I could react, he let out a frustrated groan and I sat there puzzled as to how I could possibly interact with this unfamiliar side of him.

"You okay?" I whispered, leaning in closer, sounding as innocent and sympathetic as I could muster. He sighed once again, seeming to let go of his frustrations but I guess I was mistaken.

"I'm fine. Thanks."  He replied bitterly, his words stinging the air so hard I think even the people in front of us heard his tension.

Now I couldn't help but note his sarcastic tone and it offended me a bit, the way his accent made him sound so belligerent to me. I wasn't going to complain, we'd never argued before and he was the one paying for all this. I was quite literally in his debt. But for him to be so nice to me and dismiss it with a bit of salt was starting to irk me more and more as the plane dipped down and I grew nervous again. 

As I thought about it more, I knew a fifteen hour flight certainly is a test for a four-month relationship but I thought we were better than this. Or at least he was. 

(I'm overthinking it)

Yeah, he's just a little frustrated and so am I.

My grip on the seat tightened as the plane crashed onto the ground, bumping the railway so hard I thought the impact was going to end me. The tables and cups of water around us shook and I tensened up again with no relief from Victor, who was now just sitting there silently, looking out the window I assumed. The plane began to slow and I finally remembered the breath I was holding in and exhaled, feeling the pit in my stomach fill about halfway. While there was still a skidding, crashing sound on the runway, I was making an effort for it not to bother me.

As the plane finally stalled to a halt, the passengers began to converse again before the click of the captain speaking was overheard, echoing coherently throughout the plane. The others quieted and waited for the announcement to end before grabbing their bags and Victor and I did the same. I waited until I knew the aisle was cleared until I got up and stood behind Victor's chair, waiting for him to come out so I could follow him. Gradually, he stood up, stretched his legs, and placed a hand on my shoulder to guide me back outside. As we reached the end I could feel a cool draft of wind from the airport awaiting us as once again I felt a small ridge between the plane and the platform leading to it.

Another natural enemy of mine.

Before any flight attendants would further assist me and come to my embarrassment, I stretched my walking stick over to the other side, feeling steady ground and lifted my foot past the tip, easily making it over. Anyone around me still watching seemed to have realized my disadvantage and been a bit shocked by my ability to do things on my own. Yes, simple things others do every day. They were struck by it, because I heard a slight gasp or lingering murmurs whenever I did something so intermediate.

I climbed my way effortlessly down the stairs with a bit of help from the railing and not straying far from Victor's footsteps in front of me. Trailing behind him, we made our way to the airport (JFK) , now in New York, I remembered. Victor sat me down as he collected our luggage and I patiently awaited the final stretch back to our hotel, reluctant to walk anywhere at all but eager to finally be able to be alone with Victor where he hopefully wouldn't have such a brazen undertone.